1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compressing articles and, more particularly, to a dieless compression head and a method of crimping electrical connectors onto conductors.
2. Prior Art
It is well known in the art to terminate electric cables by inserting an end of a cable into a connector which is then compressed or indented so as to form a mechanical and electrical connection between the cable and connector. U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,989 to Morby discloses a compression indenting tool with a piston that carries a punch with the overall form of a four-sided pyramid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,549 to Lytle et al. discloses a hydraulic compression tool with a dieless compression head used in crimping or compressing connectors to cables. Although dieless compression heads, also known as universal compression heads, have been known and used in the past to crimp a variety of size connectors and conductors, a problem nonetheless existed in the prior art in that the universal compression heads were unable to crimp all sizes of connectors and conductors with the same degree of quality. In order to properly crimp a relatively large connector with a relatively large conductor, such as a 1000 MCM wire size conductor, the front of the indentor needs to be broad to prevent the indentor from inadvertently piercing through the connector rather than properly compressing the connector. However, in order to properly crimp a connector onto a relatively small conductor, such as a 6 AWG wire size conductor, the front of the indentor should be narrow such that the indentor can indent the connector and not merely flatten the connector which would not produce a good crimp. The prior art universal compression heads have been unable to adequately support both of these divergent requirements and provide the same type of quality connections for a full range of connectors and conductors sizes.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to overcome problems in the prior art as well as provide additional features.